It’s been a busy-as-da-fuck weekend. Friday evening started at a luau party and ended with the previously posted party at Jabba Jaws that had me marveling at Krazy’s mixologist and bedside manner skills. As an update, Mensa got totally pickled and still has trouble remembering most of the evening at Jabba Jaws, so… money well spent, I guess. Thanks goes to Pounders for stepping up and keeping him from going toxic.

Had a nice Saturday afternoon tooling around Magazine St. with Pounders hitting Brew Ha-Ha for a fermentation bucket and a guided tour of the place. I think I’ve been bitten by the home-brew bug courtesy of that loveable lug, and I’m easing into it slowly by making several varieties of "bounce", which require patience but no actual brewing skill. Coming to a liver near you… blueberry, raspberry and cherry bounce — in honor of my dad who used to make a wicked wild cherry bounce. It’s all downhill from here.

After Brew Ha-Ha, we stopped as Juan’s Flying Burrito for a bite to eat, and let me tell you it was tasty as all get out. Unfortunately, Juan played two encores and made several curtain calls a few short hours afterward — Thirteen & Stirfry, I sincerely hope the contractor can rebuild your guest bathroom and get the scorch marks off of the porcelain. Which brings me to the visit to their house where the Lady and I played one enjoyable, but painful to my lower intestine game of Cranium (owing to Juan making several comebacks).

Sunday was spent shopping for cherries and booze to make the bounce. I spent more hours than I care to count pitting fresh bing cherries today. My fucking back is killing me. Do you know it takes a metric ass-ton of cherries and brandy to make cherry bounce? Holy crap! It’s for a good cause, though… World Domination Through Intoxication. Yeah, I’m fighting for Ponders’ cause.

There’s a bit of fun for you here. It’s a bunch of contestants on a Japanese talent game show performing a live-action Matrix type of ping-pong game. Very well orchestrated, and clever to boot.

Lady, Mensa and I went to the big bash at Jabba Jaws tonight, and it seems to have been a rousing success. Krazy was truly in his element, and I don’t think I’ve seen him this happy in a long time. He was busy — overwhelmingly so at times — but he handled the rushes with a grace and speed conceived from years of playing the perfect host during the Mardi Gras season. He seems to have found a comfortable niche, and the niche has found him.

I was asked if I enjoyed the party tonight, and I did, but not for reasons most would expect. I’m no party-boy by any stretch of the imagination. I’m more of a homebody kinda guy, but I like to have people in my home, so it all balances out. Going to this party for the party’s sake isn’t what stirred me. I went to support my friend at a time and place that was Important to him. Yes, important with a capital "I".

It was a landmark moment in Krazy’s new career, and I wanted to share that with him because it means a lot to him to have his friends around at times like these. It made me happy to see him gliding around like a whirling dervish behind the bar, pouring out drinks and popping the tops off of beer bottles with a deft flick of the wrist, never once looking at his belt when drawing or sheathing his opener.

Never did that satisfied half-grin leave his face, even when he screwed up his expression with confusion at something, or dissatisfaction with the other bonehead behind the bar who kept getting in his way and screwing up his flow. That is what made me happy, to sense the waves of glory emanating from Krazy and to know that I might have contributed to it a little bit by showing up and hanging out. Of course, I also wanted to make sure that I had a hand in him going home a few duckets heavier at the end of the night so I tipped as well as I could for the few beers that I had.

Congrats Krazy, and I’m glad Dame Fortune has finally turned her pretty face your way. Let’s hope she watches you for a while. Vincero!

I have found someone worthy of my heartfelt respect and admiration. This lady here writes with such elegance and ease, and wields the sharpest tongue I have seen in many a year. She makes me look like a fucking boyscout with a serious mission to earn his place in heaven early in life.

Check out the rest of her site, dooce.com, but you might want to start here, where she not only tells you a little about herself, but links to some very tasty entries to read, including that gem I linked up top.

Oh, and if you want to jump into some fairly funny shit right away, go straight here.

Hello and welcome to DmentD’s eddying, sucking void of time. I’ve managed to broadcast this message to the outside world utilizing the raw power of my will, boosted by regular caffeine injections administered directly to the base of my skull.

So, Lady and I are still on the great house-hunting safari and we have one interesting prospect in mind, but there are… complications. To start with, buying a house is a nerve racking experience, especially for folks like us who are in an unusual position of having more expensive tastes than our budgets can afford. So, in order to buy a house that is large enough for our needs, allow us to entertain, be comfortable without busting at the seams, in one of the few areas we prefer and at the right price, we have had to do a tremendous amount of searching.

The current house that interests us has issues. It was bought by the current owners with the intention of being shored and renovated before re-selling at a higher price. Now living in New Orleans, more generally in southern Louisiana, has the distinct disadvantage of putting you on softer ground (what with that whole below sea-level, water table 18" below the ground nonsense), which means that heavy structures like, oh, let’s say a house have a tendency to settle a bit. It’s a common problem, and there are solutions — shoring. There are inherent problems with shoring, like finding a reputable company to do it. Even then, it takes a few years to know if the reputable company has done a good job. It also detracts from the overall value of a house as compared to one that is still level without the need of any assistance. Not a bad deal for folks like us with expensive tastes and small budgets, but can cause headaches when folks like us go to sell the house years later. The work has already been done and I’m checking references from the company that has done the work, which incidentally comes with a lifetime transferable warranty. Dilemmas ensue.

Secondly, the renovations have me a bit worried. I want to be assured that they don’t skimp on anything and do it properly. I also want to be sure that they do as much work as possible to fix the place up as that means less money, sweat and time I have to spend in the future to do the work myself. Of course, there are things that they definitely aren’t going to do, but are they insignificant enough to overlook when considering this house. Of course, this is mostly all negotiable when you put the bid in on the house. Our real-estate agent advises us to "get it all in writing" so that if they skimp or don’t do something we have on paper, we can hold their feet to the fire.

The last qualm I have is the final value of the house. The folks renovating the place bought the house for a steal, owing to the amount of work it needed. Once all is said and done, is the house really going to be worth the increased price they’re asking for it? After all, unless you intend to live in a house for the rest of your life, you’re making an investment in property that needs to gain in value as time goes on. Even if the value stays the same over the years, you’re still losing money.

So, we’ve been doing a tremendous amount of research. We’ve been talking to everyone we know who has ever bought a house, done renovations or had a home shored. I’ve been an internet researching fool. My ear is taking on the shape of my phone from making so many calls. In the midst of all this we’re still looking at other houses, because if all of our concerns don’t have satisfactory answers, we’re ejecting this prospect like a bad case of food poisoning.

It’s been a long road, and I expect it to go on for a while longer. The house hunt is only one of the many loverly things shaking our lives up these days. If you are good boys and girls, I might tell you all about how I became Queen Of The Bingo later this week(end). It’s a daunting tale about the challenges each human faces, and the hurdles we each must clear to make it to the top and snatch that "crown". There’ll be a picture, too. Aren’t you lucky?

End transmission.

H’okay  folks.  This is an official announcement for a group event.  Friday, July 11th is opening night for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and I intend to see it with as many of you as are willing to go.  Afterwards, we’ll go to Outback, and have a nice steak dinner, darlinks.

The details are a follows:

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
AMC Palace 20 — Elmwood
8:00pm

I suggest you buy your tickets in advance.  Dinner after the movie.  Heavy drinking after dinner.

Comment with your intention to attend, and we’ll try to coordinate arrival times, holding seats, etc.

Be there, or be trapezoidal.

Ok, now this is rich. I stumbled across a site named Things My Girlfriend And I Have Argued About. Thank me later when you can breathe.

So, this week brings two of the landmark events of the year together.

First and foremost, RhondaLady and I have been married for eight years as of today, June 30th. All told, we’ve been together for fourteen years. Yes, Methuselah catered our reception — and a number of you dear readers were there, getting drunk for nary a thin dime I might add. Good job, that’s what the booze was there for.

Second, my blushing bride will be another year older on Friday, July 4th. Yup, she’s a Yankee Doodle Dandy. Correction, she’s my Yankee Doodle Dandy. I don’t think she’s squeamish about her age, but discretion is the better part of valor, so I shant bring it up here. Ask her your own damned self.

I swear, I don’t know how she puts up with all of my crap. I’m not the easiest person to live and deal with on a daily basis, but I do the best I can to be the best person, and husband that I can. I love her dearly, and not just for not killing me yet. She’s the most wonderful person I know, and I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life without her.

RhondaLady my dear, I love you more than I could ever convey with words. For once, I am at a loss to express myself.

I do a fair amount of web surfing, and I have a meandering path of sites I read on a regular basis. I refer to them as My Dailies, even though I don’t catch them all every day. Of course all of you — my homies — get a few hits every day. I then have my news sites, comic sites, gaming & industry sites and my complete stranger sites.

The "complete stranger" sites are the ones I’ve stumbled across through one or more different avenues of links. I honestly couldn’t tell you how I found most of them. Internet journaling and blogging are not new concepts by any stretch of the imagination, but have been catching on more and more in recent months. It’s quite a phenomenon, and I’ll discuss this at a later time. These complete strangers most typically are bloggers. They’ve turned out to be fairly interesting people to read even, likely especially, never having met or even spoken to them. That, I think, is part of what makes them so interesting.

One of these strangers — Erika — is a young lady who is a very talented artist. She, along with a select and devoted crew of equally talented young folks, produce their own web comics. Not your mainstream knee-slapping sort of rag, but some well written, composed, drawn and inked independent comics. Good stuff, really. One day I noticed that she linked to her LiveJournal from the comic page and I decided to have a peek, being the natural voyeur that I am.

The first thing I discovered is a very close, tight-knit community of friends, amongst which was Erika. They are fiercely loyal and protective of each other, regardless of their respective geographic locations, color, race, creed or sexual orientation. Sounds a little familiar to me, considering who my audience is. They all share a love for producing art and comics for the sheer joy of doing it, and they genuinely support each other in this endeavor.

Recently, Erika announced to the world that she was gay, and madly in love. Really no surprise if you read her journal long enough. One problem. Really, the biggest problem as I understand it. Family. Her mom. Seems mommy dearest didn’t take too kindly to the news. Her mom instantly latched on to the idea that her only daughter was going through some college rebellion phase in her life.

In an effort to help her family understand and accept, and to help organize her own thoughts and feelings about her sexuality, Erica wrote a short essay. Incidentally, she’s turning the essay into a forty-page comic for the San Diego Comic-Con.

Please take a few minutes of your time and go read the essay HERE. I promise, you won’t miss the time.

Here on my blog, I may give the impression that I am a harsh, foul-mouthed angry kind o’ guy. Nothing could be farther from the truth. I’m just a regular person, subject to the slings and arrows that the world flings at everyone. I pride myself on trying to be the best person I can, judging those around me on their merit and worth, not on the color of their skin, and especially not on whom they choose to love and keep close.

The world is a rough place to live in, and friendship can make the road we travel a little easier to handle. Love can make that road smooth as glass. Love will make you float inches above that pothole-strewn path. If you are one of the fortunate ones in this world to find a companion to buoy you up, to make you laugh during the day, keep you warm at night and put up with your crap around the clock, I don’t care who it is. You can be a lovely he-she, he-he, she-she or it-it couple, it doesn’t matter. Bravo, I say. Congratulations! Mazel tov!

When I read Erika’s essay, I was extremely moved. Here was a person who was trying her damnedest to make her mother understand, to really see her for who she is, and rejoice in her happiness. She took great pains to illustrate the loving relationship, regardless of the mating, or rather the non-mating parts involved.

I won’t lie to you and say that I didn’t think of some of my good friends… how could I not. My path in this life has crossed, and will cross that of many interesting people. Incidentally, several of them are gay. Captain once paid me the greatest compliment. Upon observing my casual attitude around him, he asked me point blank "you really don’t have any problems around gay people, do you?" I was shocked. Should I have problems? I didn’t think it was anything so remarkable. Apparently it was, especially in the South.

He was my friend, how could I have a problem with him? He wasn’t hurting me, or anyone I cared for. Nope, he didn’t have any puppy torturing equipment. No apparent weapons of mass destruction and a trigger. He occasionally fed me… hell, if you feed me every now and again, you’ve got a friend for life. What was the big deal? That whole loving, kissing, fucking other men thing? And? He wasn’t trying to fuck me, so it never bothered me. We respected each other as human beings, and that’s all that mattered.

It’s a shame that most of this "civilized society" we live is way too wrapped up in externals. It’s all about what’s in your head and heart that matters. If the planet were fueled by a little more mutual respect and common courtesy, we’d be a hell of a lot better off. I might not even curse as much. Nah, not likely.

Surround yourself with good friends — good people — and love ’em all. Those good people are a treasure greater than gold or diamonds. If you can find someone you can really Love, with the capital "L" and all, more power to you. Sure, you may bicker and fight now and again, but you’ll always get under the skin of someone you’re that close to. Just think of the "make-up" sex you’ll have.

Wanna talk about this blog? Head on over to the forum.

There’s been some sawdust in the air at the old DmentiA estate this weekend. I’ve got a few new additions to the site.

First, I’ve added the capacity to selectively enable comments for my blog entries — just check out the upper right hand corner of this message. When I started out, I wasn’t concerned with comments as I was writing for my own entertainment. Time has passed, and more of our extended family have web pages, blogs and comments. I find that I’m writing for a larger audience than I started out with, and I want the capacity to get feedback from you folks on certain things, without the necessity for people to have to send email.

That still leaves another problem. Entire conversations are being held in blog comments and they inevitably get cycled down the page as new blog entries are added, the thread lost or dropped, no more to be said. It makes it hard to have a really good discussion. The happy medium is to link a blog entry to a forum, which is an environment better suited for that sort of thing. That is also an option that I have now.

The second new addition to the family is the Cam Portal that I so recently talked about. The first phase is to get the folks interested in participating to contact me for details. I’ll tell you this much: it involves a camera of some sort and the capacity to store a picture in a web accessible area (i.e. a web page). I think we can have a lot of fun with this.

Ok, I’ve been twiddling with this idea since before Mardi Gras, and I think the timing might be right.

The blog/journal thing has become quite popular with the world today. We’ve got quite a good web presence established within our twisted little community alone. We use our blogs for a lot of things – to speak our minds, make announcements, show off, congratulate others, etc, but more than anything else, we are using them to keep in touch with each other. Entire conversations have been held in comment sections. It’s a good way to let the rest of the people you care about know what’s a-happening, if they are interested in knowing. It’s time to take the communications to the next level.

A camera portal.

Most all of us have some form of digital imaging device, whether it be a digital camera, webcam or what have you. What I’d like to do is set up a page where anyone who cares to participate can display an image that can dynamically be changed at their leisure. The images would be stored on your own web space, and would be required to fit within a pre-defined resolution. Once established, it should be maintenance free.

Here’s a good example of what I’m looking to do.

Let me know what y’all think of this – if you’re interested, any suggestions, etc. We have a lot of clever people in our community, I’d like to see this come to life and be a very cool thing indeed. I’ll propose a few things to my resident genius Raul – no Thirteen, not your Raul – and see what he has to say on the subject.